STRASBOURG, France — European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker berated the European Parliament on Tuesday, calling the body “ridiculous” and accusing it of showing a lack of respect for smaller countries after only a tiny fraction of MEPs showed up for a speech by the Maltese prime minister.

“I salute those that have taken the trouble to be in the room,” a visibly furious Juncker began his remarks to the largely empty chamber in Strasbourg.

“The European Parliament is ridiculous, very ridiculous,” Juncker said. “The fact that about 30 MEPs are seated in this debate is enough to show that the Parliament is not serious.”

Juncker’s sharp rebuke sparked a multilingual clash with Parliament President Antonio Tajani, who angrily defended Parliament, saying it controlled the Commission not the other way around, At first, Tajani implored Juncker in Italian: “I beg you to have a respectful behavior.”

Juncker, who slapped the air angrily with his hands as he spoke, was having none of it.

“There are only a few members,” he shot back at Tajani, switching to English from French. “There are only a few members in the plenary to control the Commission. “You are ridiculous! I want to pay tribute to the Maltese.”

Tajani pushed back, now switching to French, perhaps so Juncker would understand him better. “I ask you to use different language,” he said lamely. “We are not ridiculous!”

Despite Tajani’s protests, Juncker refused to back down from his criticism.

As each man landed his rhetorical blows, a weak smattering of applause echoed in the mostly empty hemicycle. The first debate of the day was to supposed to be a review of Malta’s recently-completed six-month presidency of the Council of the EU.

Instead, it became an unseemly inter-institutional fight.

Such squabbles are not uncommon, and in many respects unavoidable given the EU thrives on having a multitude of institutions and an even bigger multitude of egos.

But EU leaders have been working extremely hard in recent months to maintain a high level of unity as they confront the twin challenges of Brexit and a wave of right-wing populism — and they have largely seemed to be succeeding. Pro-European candidates have emerged victorious in a string of elections, including in the Netherlands and France, and the EU has seemed to take the upper hand in the early stages of negotiations with the U.K.

But Juncker’s fury over the the fact that perhaps just 30 of the 751 MEPs managed to attend the plenary for the speech by Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat apparently overwhelmed his normal efforts to portray the bloc as working in tight cohesion for the benefit of European citizens.

Juncker was clearly unhappy as he sat in a seat near the well of the hemicycle, his chief of staff, Martin Selmayr, perched behind him, and an array of papers, a croissant, coffee and water on the table in front.

The video of the session shows far more staff members than MEPs in attendance, with only four MEPS clearly visible among the scores of seats visible to the cameras.

Among the punctual MEPs present to hear Juncker and Muscat speak were: the president of the Greens group, Philippe Lamberts, who is Belgian; Tanja Fajon, a Socialist from Slovenia; and David Casa, a Maltese member of EPP.

Despite Tajani’s protests, Juncker refused to back down.

“I will never again attend a meeting of this kind,” said Juncker. “The Commission is under the control of the Parliament, but the Parliament has to respect even the presidencies of smaller countries, what the Parliament is not doing. I wanted to pay tribute to the Maltese government and the prime minister.”

Juncker, who is a former prime minister of Luxembourg, had said earlier that he believed the absence of MEPs was a clear sign of disrespect to Malta, the smallest EU country. He added that if German Chancellor Angela Merkel or French President Emmanuel Macron had been giving a speech instead, “We would have a full house.”

Case closed?

In statements posted later Tuesday on Twitter, Jaume Duch Guillot, chief spokesman for the Parliament, said Tajani and Juncker had met and that the Commission president “regretted” the words used during the morning debate. “Tajani considers the matter closed,” Duch Guillot wrote in one post in Spaish. “Case closed,” he wrote in another post in French.

Juncker’s office said it had no further comment. However, an EU official close to Juncker noted that Duch did not make any reference to an apology by Juncker. And while the Commission president regretted his choice of words, the official said, Juncker was adamant that leaders of the Parliament needed to deal with a pattern of absenteeism, particularly during speeches by leaders of smaller nations.

Officials said Juncker was also irked during a similar situation six months ago, when Parliament was due to review the results of Slovakia’s presidency of the Council and few MEPs turned up to listen to Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico.

The Parliament’s internal rules require the current 751 elected members to attend plenary sessions once a month in Strasbourg. MEPs must sign an official register to prove that they are sitting in plenary and to receive a flat-rate allowance of €306 per day to cover their expenses during these sessions.

“People come here to sign the attendance registry, vote and then they leave” — a Parliament official.

“If a Member does not take part in more than half of the roll-call votes on voting days in plenary the allowance is halved, even if the Member is present,” the Parliament’s rules say.

Despite all this, the Parliament has grappled with MEP absenteeism in plenaries for years.

“People come here to sign the attendance registry, vote and then they leave,” said one Parliament official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The hemicycle room is often half-filled when the Commission and Council hold their debates on Tuesday or Wednesday mornings. On June 12, the room was about 50 percent full when Juncker gave a speech in plenary along with Helena Dalli, Maltese minister for social dialogue.

On Tuesday morning, however, even the presidents of the two biggest political groups didn’t show up for Muscat’s speech. Gianni Pittella, the president of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats, was “at a sit-in organized by an NGO,” and then met with European Health and Food Safety Commissioner Vytenis Andriukaitis “until 9:30 a.m.,” according to an official from the S&D.

The whereabouts of Manfred Weber, the leader of the European People’s Party (EPP) — the largest group — were not immediately clear.

An official from the EPP said Weber’s group would hold an internal debate on absenteeism in the plenary on Wednesday, prompted by the low turnout when Hilda Heine, president of the Marshall Islands, came to address MEPs in June, and similarly ended up speaking to a ghost chamber.

“She had spent maybe 18 hours on the plane and very few people showed up in plenary,” the official said.

Kevin

We all know that the Parliament is an irrelevant talking shop. Looks like the MEPs are starting to realise it as well.

Posted on 7/4/17 | 10:50 AM CEST

Julien

Juncker is right! And he may not control the Parliament. But the citizens control the Parliament. Can we have a list of the MEP who were not present? Will send an email to mine.

Posted on 7/4/17 | 10:51 AM CEST

andrea

Junker has a valid point. This is the kind of stuff that gives the EU in general a bad name. MEPs get paid a lot of money so they should turn up to most sessions. BTW Ukip MEPs are the worst offenders.

Posted on 7/4/17 | 10:52 AM CEST

knokke

MEPs were far too busy filling out there detailed financial transparency notifications and lobbying interests to be able to attend!

Posted on 7/4/17 | 10:52 AM CEST

Ulla hansen

Im getting more and more convincede that this parliament is one of the problems.

Its expensive. Very expensive.

And it seems like a state in itself, making the frontiers in the battle about the future a triangle, between states, commisions and EP. Its not making things easier or nessesarily more qulified. Juncker and schultzt was what came out of this parliament (echo) sphere, just to mention an example

And the actual prove that somethings fundamentaly wrong with this ‘parliament’ came just month ago. The parliament – when asked – wouldnt give up the right not to document what the large amount of money given to each member each month are used for.

This is not an honorable, representive assembly.

Actually its quite disgusting.

Posted on 7/4/17 | 11:32 AM CEST

Ulla hansen

Continued from above:

One more xample of why this ‘parliament’ isnt trustworthy or honorable:

Things not bolted to the wall in the parlaimentbuilding in Brussels are stolen. You cant leave anything around.

A bunch of thieves, it seems?

Posted on 7/4/17 | 11:44 AM CEST

chrish

The debate did sound a bit pointless so not surprised attendance was low.

Posted on 7/4/17 | 11:49 AM CEST

Parliament

#hansen

Things not bolted to the wall in the parlaimentbuilding in Brussels are stolen. You cant leave anything around.’

Chairs, plants, coffemachines – whatever!

Posted on 7/4/17 | 11:49 AM CEST

Stefan

@Ulla hansen

Is that true Ulla? (the pilfering) That’s hilarious 🙂

Posted on 7/4/17 | 11:52 AM CEST

alan

Such a small intimate gathering, perhaps Selmayr was along to leak the details to the press?

Junkers reaction just shows what a small petty minded little man he is – of course he won’t be back on his own but any time any big name is there he will be there trailing the coat tails……

Posted on 7/4/17 | 11:56 AM CEST

MAGA

actually it’s ridiculous to have 2 presidents

Posted on 7/4/17 | 12:02 PM CEST

chrish

Interestingly in looks from the film that most of those who did turn up sat on the far left and the far right. The populists! The careerists in the centre couldn’t be bothered.

Posted on 7/4/17 | 12:03 PM CEST

Richard O'Reilly

It is good to see tension between the Parliament and the Commission. This can only be healthy for the EU as the parliament has previously been seen to be too often in the hands of the Commission.

Posted on 7/4/17 | 12:25 PM CEST

...

@Richard O’Reilly

“It is good to see tension between the Parliament and the Commission. This can only be healthy for the EU as the parliament has previously been seen to be too often in the hands of the Commission”

By the parliament stealing an 8th holidayweek paid by the taxpayer?

Strange argument?

Posted on 7/4/17 | 12:47 PM CEST

Sooty

. BTW Ukip MEPs are the worst offenders.

Indeed they are but Farage has repeated endlessly that is because nothing gets done in this talking shop and there are better ways of spending their time. With all due respect to the Marshall Islands what would have been the benefit to the majority of MEPs had they turned up to that session? The good lady should have checked how many were planning to pitch up BEFORE she took an 18 hour flight if attendance was so important to her.

Posted on 7/4/17 | 12:48 PM CEST

Let's look at this again

Politico.eu is perhaps missing the point that EP representatives vote with their feet as to what they consider an important use of their time. The fact that MEPs are not turning up to plenary sessions on rotating Presidency of the Council of the EU is a reflection of the fact that the rotating Presidency has diminished in importance, greatly. As Juncker notes, attendance to these debates varies depending on the size of the country that is holds the rotating presidency, as MEPs get the opportunity to scrutinise big players in EU affairs.

The unavoidable fact is that the rotating presidency has diminished influence regardless of who holds it, and there is little other incentive to other MEPs turning up with Malta representing less than 0.1% of the EU’s population, meaning that though one of 28, they have little power to call on for double majority votes.

It’s not just the European Parliament. National Parliament debates are often very sparsely attended. Not everyone is following the debate on TV from their office, either. It would, however, be appropriate for European Parliamentarians to show up when the President of another country travels to see and talk to them – however small that country is.

Posted on 7/4/17 | 1:01 PM CEST

Let's look at this again

Rosemary Goddard Svendsen – The Maltese Prime Minister is there as the representative of the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU, currently held by Malta. The rotating presidency has diminished in importance over the years, with the permanent President of the European Council setting the agenda for summits of heads of state/government, and the Commission really setting the legislative agenda. Truth be told, the rotating presidency is only there as chair of meetings of the Council of the EU, and the strength it will hold varies depending on who hosts it. It’s wonderful to speak about each rotating presidency being of equal value, but the stark truth is that its not. MEPs are allowed to vote with their feet as to what they consider important.

Posted on 7/4/17 | 1:14 PM CEST

freddie silver

This session should be remembered in the history books as the only one when Mr. Juncker has said something worth saying. In particular his very first words on the video on top of the article.

Posted on 7/4/17 | 1:17 PM CEST

Obediah

In fairness the low attendance to listen to the Maltese PM merely reflects what we already know – in the EU small countries’ job is to do as they are told. Nobody is interested in what they have to say unless they are a problem, like Greece, in which case they get punished.
This is quite different from large countries. As Mr Junker states, Chancellor Merkel or President Macron would be listened to, and if their countries transgress then the rules would be changed or ignored.
So, much as I dislike the Parliament as an institution, it’s members were acting quite rationally in the context of the EU framework to ignore Mr Muscat.

Posted on 7/4/17 | 1:24 PM CEST

Veritas-Semper

Ha, the tipsy Juncker woke up?

Posted on 7/4/17 | 1:45 PM CEST

Pexit

Why to loose your time with the puppet show, if you want to discuss a thing you do its first in a nice place with friends and after with the delegates of the IV Reich…puppet like Malta which is only a fiscal paradise selling the European citizenship for a euro are only their to try to give a democratic apparence to the liberal dictatorship…

Posted on 7/4/17 | 1:46 PM CEST

wow

That’s twice I have agreed with Junker recently. Brexit must have woke him up a bit. The COMPLETELY FAIR AND RATIONAL criticism the UK has been making about the EU are finally sinking in and he’s seeing how the EU looks to the rest of the world. Looking at Macron’s speech it has sunk in with the French as well.

Good Luck EU but Cheerio.

Posted on 7/4/17 | 1:53 PM CEST

Afonso

Juncker is absolutely right to be angry. It’s also a lack of respect for voters, and an hipocrisy to only be present when there’s media coverage. The names of the absent MEP’s should be made public, so they can be confronted on the reasons of not being in the plenary. Were they working in their offices? On vacation?

Posted on 7/4/17 | 1:58 PM CEST

Pexit

@MAGA
It’s even worse that…
There are not 2 but 3 presidents…Juncker…tusk….Tajani..

Posted on 7/4/17 | 1:58 PM CEST

Manuel

It is about time the Parliament gets a bit of scrutiny. There are MEPs doing a good job and working a lot. But there is also the other kind, and I feel they drag down the whole culture of the institution.

Afonso

Is there any place we can check on those absent MEP’s? EU citizens should have the right to check on that.

Posted on 7/4/17 | 2:04 PM CEST

Steve

He’s right of course. The EU is ruled by the bureaucrats not the fake quasi-elected representatives.

Posted on 7/4/17 | 2:53 PM CEST

John

My goodness, there are some stroppy mares out there. Just goes to show it’s all about power and posturing.

Posted on 7/4/17 | 3:25 PM CEST

alan

Just a thought – does the EP have such a thing as a quorum & if so how many are required.

Posted on 7/4/17 | 3:59 PM CEST

Observer

Juncker is right. This is just another evidence tha EU parliament must be abolished because it is useless very very expensive useless institution. It is a time that EU citizens rise their voices against EU parliament.

Posted on 7/4/17 | 4:44 PM CEST

charles azzopardi

You have a duty to ask all the 721 absentees first before expressing your fury.

Posted on 7/4/17 | 4:47 PM CEST

Dee

The EU parliment is ridiculous & what is the point of Strasbourg? Waste of time & money which about sums up the EU.

Posted on 7/4/17 | 6:02 PM CEST

n

even if it took an inter-european war, even if i had to kill germans like my grandparents did, i would still support the fall of the EU.

Posted on 7/4/17 | 7:00 PM CEST

Gary

I vote we abolish the Parliament and make Juncker the real President of EU

Posted on 7/4/17 | 7:33 PM CEST

Jodocus5

The things that probably hurts most is that Eurosceptics (like political arsonist Mr. Farage) have said similar things years ago. Had they been taken more seriously, it might not have come to this.

Despite Mr. Junckers well-known exasperation with Mr. Farage, he is now saying something that has similarities with what Mr. Farage said.

Who remembers the video about EU parliamentarians titled “Checking in and sodding off?”. This is different insofar as parliamentarians must choose which sessions to attend and not to attend. However, the decharge of Malta and the evaluation of its turn as EU president does have significance.

Does anybody know where we can find the attendance and voting records of EU parliamentarians (like the records available in the US)?

Posted on 7/4/17 | 10:32 PM CEST

Giuseppe Marrosu

The rotating presidency, not the EU Parliament, should be abolished.
It is just about giving each Member States 6 months of celebrity while rotatingly annoying the other 27. We all remember some embarassing semesters: when the Czech started theirs with an art display that insulted every european nation, or when Belgium took the presidency while it didn’t even have a government… Thank heavens the UK gave up its turn. It would be ridiculous to have a Member that has vowed to leave take the Presidency. But that was just what the rules would have had.
We all believe in democracy. Well in democracy you get power in proportion to your population. Malta’s population is less than 1 thousandth the total EU population. If all regions of Europe with the population of Malta were entitled to 6 months of presidency of the EU, it would take more than 6,000 years until they’ve all held the presidency. Off course Malta is a Country and we all must respect that. But it doesn’t mean they should get special privileges and attentions just for that. There are other institutions and provisions in the EU that assure Malta gets the listening and the attention it deserves.

Posted on 7/4/17 | 10:38 PM CEST

Jone

I rarely agree with Junker, but this time he is absolutely right; it is ridiculous that MEPs can’t be bothered to do their jobs and show up for important meetings; and it is the height of disrespect when a Commission President comes to Parliament to brief MEPs and they don’t even bother to show up.
Parliament President Antonio Tajani would do better to get his MEPs in order and to attend sessions instead of defending this disgraceful behavior by MEPs who are not doing their job.

Posted on 7/5/17 | 3:27 AM CEST

The truth is never pure and rarely simple

Lots of predictable populist remarks about the Parliament here, but look at any Parliament, and you see empty chambers too. Is it just possible that there is more to an MEPs than sitting in on a set piece debate (which anybody can watch online)? Maybe many of the MEPs were engaged in other work. How about an article about that?

Posted on 7/5/17 | 7:02 AM CEST

tony

jodocus

My MEP represents the South West Of England AND Gibraltar!

I have no idea as to how he can serve such a large area or what he does. Unlike a UK constituency MP whose clearly defined localised area means they can act on residents behalf if an issue needs airing.

I have no idea what an MEP does and the Europa site does not help to clarify.

Can anyone explain the purpose and real duties of an MEP. Is it to represent our local interests or to sit in the EU parliament taking part in important debates?

Can anyone enlighten me please?

Posted on 7/5/17 | 9:53 AM CEST

alan

Facinating that Jean-McEnroe Junker’s strop was provoked by only c30 MEP’s turning up to see/hear him & Muscat whereas another event later in the day attracted c630 according to other media sources.

Posted on 7/5/17 | 10:06 AM CEST

Giuseppe Marrosu

For us commentators they are not foreign leaders They are our European leaders and as they are of high calibre and many capable We rely on them and think highly of them our European Unity is our strength and the quality of our leadership is our guarantee of freedom and prosperity

Posted on 7/5/17 | 11:38 AM CEST

Jim

Hehehe , when people get bored they stay away .
The EU is only there so the `Officials` can get other countries money to be put into their off-shore bank accounts . Nothing more .

Posted on 7/5/17 | 12:10 PM CEST

marie

Bravo Tajani! You put that drunkard in his place. More actions like this and. And act on your declarations if EU is to last at all. We can not let few “chosen ones” to dictate Europeans what to do and how to think (or better yet not to think at all). BRAVO.

Posted on 7/5/17 | 12:30 PM CEST

Vishnou

What a disagrace that MEPs (democratically-elected national representatives) give this disastrous image of an Institution with considerable powers by only showing up as and when is serves their personal goals: Le Pen and Farage are excellent examples of genuine abusers.

Posted on 7/5/17 | 1:55 PM CEST

Vishnou

@Marie: are you insane or just an MEP? The Commission is doing all the work behind the scene: their civil servants are not paid outrageous indemnities according to distance from home to their place of work whether they show up or not. Calm down.

Posted on 7/5/17 | 2:33 PM CEST

Vishnou

@n: what a prestigious pseudo if I may repeat myself. Of course, speaking non-sense doesn’t deserve a proper identity.

Posted on 7/5/17 | 2:36 PM CEST

lingon

@wow: no, st@pid – Junkers outburst was quite obviously NOT in any way a result of or in support of either Brexit or the UK:s chriticism on EU.

It would only be a relentlessly fanatic enti-EU troll that would even attempt to suggest anything in that direction.

Guess we got you circled in pretty good, there…

“I only make reasonable post backed up by proof”

Yes, indeed…

Posted on 7/5/17 | 2:43 PM CEST

Vishnou

@MAGA: Helloooooooooooo!!!! The EP has a President and so do the Commission and the Council. As is the case in most countries where the two Chambers and the governement do have separate presidents. What is the problem???? We are talkiing about Institutions who defend the rights of 28 countries and over 740 million citizens.

wow

However, other commenters above and MEP’s have noted how this plays into the hands of citizen’s who criticise the EU, so I’m not alone there am I?

Posted on 7/5/17 | 7:24 PM CEST

CSK

As MEPs are paid handsomely by the EU taxpayer, the least that they can do is show up for work – and actually do some!

Time to commence a daily roll-call, just like kids at school.
In fact, why not go the whole hog and have them electronically tagged?!

Posted on 7/5/17 | 8:58 PM CEST

greek

No wonder that UKIP and british governments hated Juncker and didn’t want him elected. There is no doubt that he wants to raise quality and this is why he attacks non attendance. Before you crow about this issue, don’t forget that the house of commons in london or many other chambers are mostly empty unless there is a big vote.

Juncker is gradually working to fix things, and he is succeeding. The commission is now much more focused on the interests of an average EU citizen (e.g. roaming fees etc.) not like Barroso who was infatuated with big business.

Despite his advanced age, Juncker is getting things done that other bureaucrats haven’t achieved in decades. The european parliament was not even mentioned anywhere before him…

There are serious supranational issues that cannot be effectively solved in national parliaments. We used to think that Germany was a big country, strong etc. Well the 80odd million of germans are nothing compared to the billions of chinese and indians that are now capitalist and want to control the world over and above USA and europe.

The european response is one of caution and at times self doubt. However the response of the USA was to elect an idiot aristocrat who inherited his wealth and doesn’t get what is going on and belongs to a home for senile dirty old men. In the UK they have lost their minds too and elected a lady who is clearly overpromoted massively, and with Boris Johnson the british version of Trump waiting to be PM.

Overall the EU is doing much better, probably because the social state has kept the population together, and because institutions like the ECB work very well.

The reality is that the EU with the exception of the taliban of Poland, and the idiot pretend revolutionary Tsipras in greece perhaps. The EU is realistic and reasonable with the best plan to keep the average european’s fortunes on a reasonable path.

Everywhere else i see scary things.

Posted on 7/6/17 | 7:22 AM CEST

holger

Apart from Tajani, Juncker and Muscat these MEPs were present during the review of Maltese presidency (starting time at 09.04).

Those speaking soon after Juncker were most likely present from the beginning. Those speaking closer to the end could have been absent in the beginning, but not necessarily. There were most likely those who were not speaking at all. They do not show on this list.

Full list of MEPs is available at europarl.europa.eu. By comparing the lists you can find out most likely absentees and most likely attendees.

Number of speakers on the list (apart from Tajani, Juncker and Muscat) is 35.